Articles Posted inAuto Accident

Life as we knew it radically changed once COVID-19 became a global pandemic. Social distancing, school closures, lockdowns, and business shutdowns changed peoples’ behaviors in major ways. In March 2020, states began implementing measures to slow the spread of the Coronavirus, namely stay-at-home and safer-at-home orders designed to reduce human to human contact and transmission of the virus. In most states, only “essential businesses” could remain open, and the results were drastic: most of the residents of any given city remained at home on a day-to-day basis. Despite roads being much less crowded, the National Safety Council reported that in March 2020, the motor vehicle accident fatality rate actually increased by 14%.

From January-March 2020, some Southern states have seen among the biggest increases in deadly car accidents: Arkansas (+16%), Tennessee (+6%), and Louisiana (+23%). These figures come even as the total number of vehicle miles driven across the United States in March 2020 decreased 18.6% compared to March 2019. Why are fatal accident rates going up even when most Americans were sheltering at home?

The Tennessee Highway Patrol is investigating a 63% increase in deadly car crashes in Shelby County in the first 5 months of 2020, as compared to the same period of 2019. From January 1 – May 26, 2020, THP has reported at least 80 traffic fatalities in Shelby County, but in the same period in 2019, there were 49 lives lost in car wrecks.

The Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) projects 6,590 pedestrian deaths in the United States in 2019. This represents a 5% increase compared to 2018 and the highest number on record since 1988.

Key Pedestrian Death Statistics

Pedestrians represent 17% of all traffic-related deaths in 2019, compared to 12% in 2009

Did you know that scientifically speaking, driving while fatigued has similar effects to driving while intoxicated? Yes, it is true – driving after being awake for 20 hours is almost like driving with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% according to the National Safety Council. You don’t have to be awake for 20+ hours for the effects of fatigue to kick in. If you are more tired than normal, you can still suffer from lower reaction times and temporary lapses in judgment, all of which affect your ability to operate a vehicle safely. Just one split second of inattention on the road can lead to a crash that can upend someone’s life in an instant.

Drowsy Driving Statistics

Nowadays, people seem to be as busy as ever with work, friends, and family demands all piling up. We want to try to make everything work, and this desire to fit everything in can cause us to push ourselves. Unfortunately, operating on too little rest leads to accidents throughout the country every day.

Uber changed the transportation game. No longer do you have to call a taxi company and wait on the driver to arrive, or stand outside while you flag down a driver. With Uber, hailing a ride has never been easier. However, that doesn’t mean all rides go smoothly. Just like all drivers, Uber drivers are susceptible to getting in accidents that can injure themselves, their passengers, and people in other cars.

If you were involved in a car accident involving Uber, you have the legal burden of proving your case if you want to recover compensation for your losses, like medical bills and lost wages. If you find yourself with a claim against Uber and its insurance carrier, it is recommended that you consult with an experienced Uber accident lawyer. Here is how this type of attorney can help you prove your case.

Pedestrian deaths have sharply increased over the past decade – in fact, the Governors Highway Safety Association estimates a 35% increase from 2008-2018. In 2009, the U.S. saw 4,109 pedestrian fatalities, and that number jumped to 6,000 in 2017. These facts surprise many, given the increase in technology and safety features within motor vehicles. Many new model cars come equipped with the latest in safety technology like automatic emergency braking (AEB), object detection sensors, blind spot warnings, and adaptive lighting. A new AAA study shows this new technology still has a ways to go.

While the new technology does help reduce overall accidents, the question is whether they are as effective when it comes to avoiding crashes with pedestrians. For example, a car that has AEB with pedestrian detection should spot a pedestrian, issue an alarm to the driver, then brake or slow down if the driver does not react quickly enough. AAA recently conducted testing with four 2019 model cars – Chevrolet Malibu, Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, and Tesla Model 3 – and crash dummies mimicking humans. AAA sought to test the effectiveness of the pedestrian detection systems.

Lost wages can be an important part to getting fair compensation in a personal injury case, as medical bills and physical pain aren’t the only ways in which an auto accident can affect you. If you suffered serious injuries like broken bones or required an extended hospital stay, you will probably be taken off of work by your doctor. Even if you didn’t suffer broken bones, your condition still could render you unable to return to work for a period of time. If you miss work due to a car wreck caused by someone else, you are legally entitled to recover your lost wages.

In a car accident case, lost wages are typically recoverable in an insurance claim against the at-fault driver’s carrier or your own carrier, if you are making an uninsured/underinsured motorist claim.

By now, everybody knows the dangers of driving drunk or intoxicated. Unfortunately, the problem doesn’t appear to be going away. The NHTSA estimates 30 people die in drunk driving crashes each day in the United States.

Alcohol causes negative side effects in your central nervous system, making it difficult to drive safely. In most states, the legal limit is a blood alcohol concentration of .08. If your BAC reaches this level, you will have poor muscle coordination and may suffer from lapses in judgment. Perception also becomes more difficult. However, even if your BAC is below the legal limit, you can still suffer from reduced coordination and lower reaction times.

Accidents involving drunk drivers can cause lots of damage – vehicle damage and personal injuries (in fact, per the NHTSA, drunk driving wrecks cost society $44 billion per year). If you’ve been hit by a drunk driver, there are certain steps you can take in order to protect your rights and properly recover for your losses.

If you’ve been injured in Tennessee due to someone else’s wrongdoing, even if it was just an accident, the law allows you to pursue recovery for your losses by filing a personal injury claim. Since we cannot go back in time, the most common measure of damages is monetary compensation designed to make you whole, as if the injury never happened in the first place. Being made whole comes in different forms. First, you can be reimbursed for direct losses and expenses such as medical bills, lost wages, future lost earnings, or future medical bills. What about losses that cannot be directly quantified? Those losses, non-economic in nature, are most commonly referred to as pain and suffering.

What Is Pain and Suffering?

In a civil trial for a personal injury claim, members of the jury are often given this definition, read by the Judge in open court: “Pain and suffering. Pain and suffering is reasonable compensation for any physical pain and discomfort and for mental pain and discomfort suffered by the plaintiff, [and the present cash value for physical and mental discomfort likely to be experienced in the future.] Mental discomfort includes anguish, grief, shame, or worry.”

The Tennessee House of Representatives has passed a bill that would make it against the law to talk on hand-held devices, such as a cell phone, while driving on any road within the state. Laws like this, known as hands-free laws, have been passed in other states already. The bill that just passed in Tennessee is HB 0164, and it now goes to the Tennessee Senate for a vote.

HB 0164 seeks to add language to Tenn. Code Ann. 55-8-207. Specifically, it seeks to prevent any driver under the age of 18 from talking on a mobile phone while the car is in motion, whether it’s a hand held device or hands-free device. Drivers who are 18 or older would only be allowed to talk while driving on a hands-free device. A driver who violates this statute would be subject to a fine of $100, but if the violation led to an accident, the fine would increase to $200.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tracks accident data across the United States with a goal of reducing wrecks and traffic fatalities. The NHTSA succinctly defines distracted driving as “any activity that diverts attention from driving.” They go on to list several examples, such as texting, eating and drinking, talking to passengers, fiddling with the radio, or monitoring GPS systems while driving.

Tennessee was recently given an unfortunate distinction – the worst state for distracted driving among all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Value Penguin recently released a study analyzing deaths in each state related to cell phone use between 2015-2017, and Tennessee did not perform well when compared to other states.

Between 2015-2017, there were over 1,400 fatalities nationwide involving some form of distracted driving. Distracted driving is defined by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as “any activity that diverts attention from driving.” It encompasses many acts while operating a motor vehicle, including cell phone use, texting while driving, looking down at GPS, changing the radio station, eating, talking on the phone or to passengers, or engaging in any conduct that can take your eyes off the road.

Tennessee had the highest distracted driving fatality rate in the country, according to the comprehensive study. The average for all states was 1.49 fatalities per 10 billion vehicle miles. Tennessee’s rate was nearly five times as high, coming in at 7.20 fatalities per 10 billion miles. The next highest states were Delaware (3.28 fatalities), Wyoming (3.22 fatalities), Texas (3.00 fatalities), and Montana (2.91 fatalities). During the surveyed period of time, these five states were responsible for 31% of all distracted driving related fatalities, an astonishingly high number.

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